ELECTRICAL TRANSPORT IN THE AG-BI2SR1.8CA1.2CU2OY COMPOSITE SYSTEM

Abstract

We have measured the resistivity of the Ag-Bi2Sr1.8Ca1.2Cu2O(y) composite system with Ag volume fraction p(Ag) ranging from 0.00 to 1.00. We find, for the samples with p(Ag) < 0.6, that the addition of Ag slightly decreases the superconducting transition temperature of Bi2Sr1.8Ca1.2Cu2O(y). For the samples with p(Ag) > 0.6, no zero-resistivity state is observed. The variation of the room-temperature resistivity with p(Ag) indicates a three-dimensional percolating Ag matrix occurring at p(Ag) almost-equal-to 0.17.